Cultivator.



A. J. KIEFFER.

cuLTlvAToR. APPLICATION FILED SEPT.4, 1915.

1,1 68,9%; Patented Jan. 18, 1916.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

A TTR/VEYS A. J. KIEFFER.

. cuLTlvAToR.

APPLICATION FILED SEPTA, 1915. 1,168,943.. Patented Jan.18,1916.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

THE caLuMalA PLAIOORAP" COI. WASHINGTON. D. c.

manufacture. f

I ommen srniins entrena# y onirica;

` ALLEN 'JEROME KIEF'FER, or NEvADA, Ionio.

To all whom t may concern:L f l Be it known that I, ALLEN J. KEFFER, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Nevada, in the county of Wyandot and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Cultivators, of which the following is a specifica` tion. v

The invention is an improvement in guiding attachments for gang cultivators.

One of the objects of my invention is to provide a cultivator attachmentin the nature of a device `to be attached to, or made a part of, a riding cultivator, for controlling the operation of `at least one of the shovels or other ground engaging tool, in such manner that these shovels or tools may be shifted to lie at an angle with the direction 'of travel of the cultivator,lso that as the latter moves along the shovel gangs will be moved to the right orto the left, as the case may be, by the action of the ground against the shovel or tool, in order to avoid cutting oruprooting the plants beingtreated.

A further objectfof 'the invention isito provide a device of the class described in the nature of afoot operable means connected with pivotally mountedmembers in each shovel gang through a suitable mecha nism under the control of thedriver of the cultivator, means being provided for simul taneously operating the shovels in each gang.

b A still further object of the inventiony is to provide a device of the classfdescribed which will be extremely simple, durable, eflicient in operation, and inevpens'ivev to Vith these and other objects `:in view which will become apparent as the descrip.-V

tion proceeds, the invention resides in the construction, combination, and arrangement Aof parts hereinafter more fully* described' and claimed and illustrated in the a`ccompanying drawings, in which like characters of reference indicate likeparts throughout the several figures, in which- Figure l represents a view rin perspective of a cultivator equipped rwith anattachment constructed in accordance withxmy invention.` Fig. 2 represents ay sectional view taken c horizontally abovei onegofz. the

`gudeeshtwels, showing thaiposton assumed y' Specification of Letters latelit.V Y f Application mea r'septei'rum 4, 19515. f serial No. 49,02*?.

by the same inmoving the shovel gangs to` Patentes Jan. is, isis.`

guide shovel in which the shank is offset at` f its lower end in orderfto aline'the shovel with the center ofthe shank; Fig.' 8 represents a view in elevation showing the applidevice.

f Referring more particularly; to thedrawings, it willbe noted that the device is shown asvattached to a riding cultivator ofV well known construction, one shovel 5- of each of the two gangs with which the cultivator cation offa modified guiding element 'to the in this'instance is equipped, being securely above and below oneeof thebearings 7, serve 1 as means 'for preventing vertical movement of theshank relative `to the arm.

The 4upper end ofthe shank is provided with an inwardly extending arm l0 suitably7 secured thereto and A`preferably formed of strip of metal looped. centrallyabout the shank and havingits ends bolte'dtogether, as at 1l` at a point adjacentfthe shank.

A block l2 may befbolted to the arm l()` to serve as means for retainingy a pivot pin 13 in place. ,A link 14 ispivoted at its rear end" upon this pin and at its forward'endis pivoted at 15. to the lower endof a vertically arrangedlever 16. The latter at its central'.

portionispivoted at 17 yupon a clip 18 secured to oneside member of a substantially vertically; 'arranged yoke 19h Y clip 21 supporting aV pin 22 upon which a horizontal lever 23 is centrally journaled.'

The upper ends of the verticallevers 16 eX- tendloosely through .openings provided adjacent the endsof lever 23, as clearly indicated in Fig. 6, Aand thus loose connections are establishedbetween levers 16 and the lever 23. y

The clips 18 an 21 are substantially identical in construction, and as indicatedV inFig. 4.-, each consists 'of a substantially U- shaped member a' straddling theyoke and providedl adjacent its ends with a bolt or other rsuitable fastening means b for binding the U-shaped member upon ysaid yoke,

25 the pivot pin being suitably welded or cast onto the U-shaped member.

`To each of the members 20at its inner end is suitably securedan vangle iron 24 providing a rearwardly `extending arm. One side ofia foot operable stirrup 25 vis pivoted to this arm with a bolt Yas at 26, the1 opposite side o fvthe :stirrup being similarly pivoted as at 27Qto onev of the shovel arms. 1 The latter .stirrup side is extended upwardly as at 28, and at its upper end is connected by means vofa link 429 to the link 14 at a point adjacent the rear end of the latter. y Normally the guiding shovel 5 is retained at right angles to the direction of travel of the machine', through the operation of a retractile. spring 30 connected 'at its rear end lwith the .arm'x10,r and at its forward end with'the element 20, or other suitable anchorage. If, while .the machine is in inc tion, it is desired 'to shift the cultivator gangs, say tothe right, the operator en` gages the right hand stirrup 25 withhisV footfand depresses the same. rllhis results in the rearward shifting movement of lthe links 29 and 14, thus rotating the shank 6 whereby to shift the right hand guiding shovel :from a position at right angles to the if direction of travel of the machine, to an angular position, as indicated in Fig. 2, so' that the shovel is arranged slan-twise with respect to vthe .direction of travel of the cultivator.

ilever 16 is swung upon itspivot, so that its.

upper yend moves forwardly, thus shifting theoppositefend of the horizontal lever 23V to that with which the upper endof the lever 16 ,is Vconnected rearwardly, and `hence f` rrthrough .the medium of the left hand lever 16 and link 14, shiftingthalefthand-guidf- Simultaneously the right hand pressure is then removed from the stirrup, Y

the spring 30 onthe'righthand side of the machine will draw the right Ahand guiding shovel back into normal position vand through the action of thev mechanism already explained, the other guiding shovel will also be returned rto normal 4position so that the gangs will remain stationary with' respect to the direction of travel of the machine. When itis desired to shift the, shovel gangs to the left, a reverse operation' of the parts from that already described, will take place inr such manner as to move the gangs toward theleft hand sideV of the machine. y

In Fig. 8a guiding element in the nature of a knife or blade is shown. It might at times be desirable, kin order to suit lthe conditions and kind of soil being treated, to use such a guiding implement instead of the ordinary cultivator shovel. ln the figure, 5a represents the knife which is suitably connected ,to the lower end of the shank 6, and which normally lies in a parallel position to thedirection of movement of the ma` chine. VTheshank 6 is suitably journaled on an additional arm 8a securely connected in desirablemanner porting means;V

The forward edge of the knife may, if desired, Vbe deiected to ,the right or to the left inthe manner already described, so as with the shovel gang supto engage with the ground at an inclination i' tothe direction of travel of the machine, and hence moved either toward the right or towardV the left, as the case may be, as the cultivator travels along. i

In Fig. 7 the lower end of the shank 6 is shown as offsetrearwardly, in order that Y the shovel' may be disposed substantially in alinement with the Vrecess of theshank. This construction will result in a ready and l easy 'shifting movement of the shovel while in the ground. y.

My'invention provides for the` quick and ready guiding of cultivator gangs by an easy downward and forward pressure of the foot of the operator, so that -thefatigue and Astrain experienced through the requirement of the side pressure 0f the leg of the operator in ordinary machines, is vdone away with. The guiding tools, namely, the cultivator shovel .or blade, `o-r any vother desirable instrument. which-.may be used4 while 'a'ctingj'- primarily as Aguiding implements,I may at Jalthough l have described the preferred embodiment of my invention, I may desire to make such changes in the construction, combination, and arrangement ofr parts thereof, as do not depart from the spirit of the invention and the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

l. rlhe combination with a cultivator having a plurality of gangs, of a rigid yoke connecting the gangs, a horizontal centrally pivoted lever carried by the yoke, a pair of vertically arranged centrally pivoted levers having loose connections with the horizontal lever at their upper ends, a substantially vertical shank rotatably connected with one of the cultivator arms in each gang, a guiding element carried at the lower end of each shank, an inwardly extending arm carried at the upper end of each shank, a link connecting each inwardly extending arm with the lower portion of the adjacent vertical lever, a stirrup pivotally connected with each gang, a link connecting each stirrup with one of the lirst of said links, and a retractile spring connected with each inwardly extending arm at one end and with the adiacent cultivator gang at the opposite end for normally retaining the guiding element in such position as to prevent shifting movement of the cultivator gangs relative to the direction of travel of the cultivator.

2. The combination with a cultivator having a plurality of gangs, of a rigid yoke connecting the gangs, a horizontally arranged centrally pivoted lever supported by the yoke, a pair of vertically arranged centrally pivoted levers having loose connections with said horizontally arranged lever at their upper ends, pivoted guide elements associated each with one of the gangs, and including a laterally extending arm, a link connection between each laterally extending arm and the adjacent vertical lever, a stirrup pivotally connected with each gang, connecting means between each stirrup and the adjacent lateral arm, and resilient means for normally retaining the guiding elements in position to prevent shifting movement of the gangs relative to the direction of travel of the cultivator.

3. The combination with a cultivator having a plurality of gangs, of a pivoted ground engaging guide member connected with each gang, means for normally maintaining the guide members in position to prevent shifting movement of the gangs relative to the direction of travel of the cultivator, rigid connecting means between. the gangs, a foot operable stirrup connected with each gang having ,a link and arm connection with the adjacent guiding element whereby to shift it at will, and a lever and a link connecting means supported by said rigid gang connecting means whereby shiftingV movement imparted to one ofthe guiding elements will be simultaneously imparted to the other.

l. The combination with a cultivator includinga plurality of gangs, of a pivoted j ground engaging guiding element associated witheach gang, a foot operable device connected with each guiding element for shifting it at will into inclined position with respect to the direction of travel of the cultivator whereby to move the gangs relative to the direction of travel of the machine, and means connecting the guide members whereby shifting movement imparted to one of them will be simultaneously imparted to the other.

5. The combination with a cultivator including a plurality of gangs, of a pivoted ground engaging guiding element connected with each gang, connecting means between the guiding elements whereby shifting movement imparted to one-of them will be simultaneously imparted to the other for moving it into analogous position, a foot operable stirrup pivotally connected with each gang, and connecting means between each stirrup and the adjacent guiding element whereby the latter may be shifted at will.

G. The combination with a cultivator including a plurality of gangs, of a pivoted ground engaging guiding element connected with each gang, means for normally retaining the guiding elements in position to prevent movement of the gangs relative to the direction of travel of the cultivator, a rigid connecting means between the gangs, connecting means between the guiding means and supported by said rigid connecting means, whereby shifting movement imparted to one of the guiding elements will be imparted to the other for moving it into an analogous position, and means for shifting either of the guiding elements at will.

7. The combination with a cultivator including a plurality of gangs, of a ground engaging guiding element pivotally connected with each gang, connecting means between the guiding elements whereby shifting motion imparted to one of them will be simultaneously imparted to the other for moving the other into an analogous position, and means for shifting either of the guiding elements at will.

8. The combination with a cultivator of a ground engaging guiding element pivotally connected with the cultivator gang and movable relatively thereto, means for normally retaining the guiding element in position for preventing the shifting movement of the gang relative to the direction of guiding elements whereby shiftingmotion 10 imparted to one of them will be `simultaneously imparted tothe other for moving the 'other into analogous position.

ALLEN JEROME i KIEFFER.

Signed in presence (1f- V. A. WOLFE, D. W. KIEFFER.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents. Washington, D. G. 

